Base ball oame illustrating apparatus



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1,

A. K. SCHAAP.

BASE BALL GAME ILLUSTRATING'APPARATUS.

Patented Apr. 21, 1896.-

M0 m M a 2 SheetsSheet 2.

(No Model.) 7

A. K. SGHAAP. BASE BALL GAME ILLUSTRATING APPARATUS.

No. 558,571. Patented Apr. 21, 1896.

AN DREW B GRAHAM. PHOTO-UI'HQWASHINFIUND c Ihvrrnn STAT S ALEXANDER K.SCIIAAP, OF RICHMOND, VIRGINIA, ASSIGNOR TO SAMUEL R. OROIVDER, OF SAMEPLACE. A

BASE-BALL-GAIVIE-ILLUSTRATING APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 558,571, dated April21, 1896.

Application filed August 2, 1895. Serial No. 557,930. (No model.)

V a citizen of the United States, residing at Richmond, in the county ofHenrico and State of Virginia, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Figures or Appliances for Illustrating Base'Ball, ofwhich the following is a specification, reference being bad therein tothe accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to improvements upon the patents granted toSamuel R. Crowder August 6, 1895, No. 543,851, and August 27, 1895, No.545,270, covering an apparatus for graphically illustrating to anaudience the progress of a game of base-ball at a distance from theplace where the game is played; and it consists, essentially, inproviding each of the figures representing the players with mechanismwhereby the various actions of the players-such as running, batting,throwing, and catching the ball, coaching, stooping to catch a grounder,&c.may be more graphically illustrated.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation of one of thefigures provided with my improvements; Fig. .3, a side elevation showingthe player stooping forward to catch the ball; Fig. 3, a side elevation,the leg and bat operating devices being removed to better show theparts; Fig. 4, a side view of the opposite side of the device, the legand ball operating devices being removed to better show. the working ofthe remaining parts; Fig. 5, a front elevation of the lower part of thedevice, showing more particularly the legoperating devices; Fig. 6, afront elevation showing the player in uniform, the uniform serving tohide the operating parts and the ball; Fig. 7 a horizontal section indetail showing the two wire supporting-frames attached to the uprightnear its hinged joint, and Fig. 8 a detail view of the bat-carryinglever.

Referring to the .drawings by numerals, 1 is the upright support for thefigure, its upper part being provided with a rule-joint at 2 and itsextremeupper end being provided with the representation of a playershead. The upright is provided with the usual friction-block 4, which isadapted to impinge upon the upper surface of the inclined board 5,(shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2,) representing the field. The weight 6for maintaining the figure in an upright position is pivoted loosely onthe lower end of the upright, so as to oscillate thereon. The legs 7 ofthe player are pivoted upon the opposite ends of horizontal pins 8,projecting from opposite sides of the standard, and the rear upper endof each leg is connected by a suitable resilient connection, such as acoil-spring'fl, to the adjacent end of a horizontal lever 10, pivotedmidway its length to the upright, and connecting this lever 10 to theoscillating weight is a wire rod 11, which passes down through thehollow up right, so as not to interfere with the movement of the uprightin the slotted board representing the field. It will be observed thatwhen the Weight is oscillated the lever 10 will be oscillated in unisontherewith and will impart to the legs an alternate forward and backwardmotion in simulation to the action of running. The resilient connections9 yield longitudinally and laterally in order that the legs may movefreely on the pivots.

The arms 12 are secured on the forward ends of an gle-levers 13, whichare pivoted or vertical brackets 14:, carried by the upright, and whoseshorter arms project inward and forward toward each other and have theiidownwardly-turned ends connected by a horizontal loop 15, this loopbeing carried by the upper end of an angle-lever 16, pivoted to theupright and having ashort arm 17, projecting rearwardly and connected toan operatingwire 18, extending through the hollow uprigh t to withinconvenient reach of the operator below the supporting-board. It will beseen that by drawing on the operating-wire 18 the angle-lever 16 and itsloop will press the shorter arms of the angle-levers inward to ward theupright and bring the hands of the player together, whereby the actionof catching the ball and clapping the hands in coaching may be readilyimitated. To restore the arms to their extended position when theoperating-wire is released, a coil-spring 19 connects the outer end ofarm 17 to the upright at a point above said arm 17.

The ball 20 is carried at the end of an anglelever 21, pivoted to theupright and provided with a rearwardly-extending arm 22, which latter isconnected to the upper part of the upright by a coil-sprin g 23 (tonormally draw the ball down out of the way) and to an operating-wire 23,which enters an opening in the side of an upright and passes downthrough the same to Within convenient reach of the operator. The lowerend of the operatingwire 23 is provided with a cross-pin 24, which isadapted to engage over pins 25, projecting from the upright, and therebyhold the operating-wire down and the ball in its raised position.

It will be seen that by simply drawing down the operating-wire 23 theball may be raised up to a point 011 a level with the hands 12, and tobring the hands together upon the ball to illustrate the action ofcatching the ball the lever 21 is bent forward about midway its lengthto such an angle that when it is raised it will strike against the frontedge of the loop 15, as shown in Fig. 2, and press the same inward,which action will bring the hands together in the manner heretoforedescribed.

The bat 26 is secured 011 the lower end of an angle-lever 27 similar inconstruction to the ball-carrying lever 21 and pivoted on the uprightand having its rearwardly-extending arm 28 connected to the upper partof the frame by a coil-spring 29 (to keep the bat norm ally drawn downin front of the upright) and to an operating-wire 30, extending downthrough the hollow upright and provided with a cross-pin 31, adapted toengage over pins 32 on the upright to hold the bat in its raisedposition. The bat-carrying lever is bent similarly to the ball-carryinglever, so that when it is raised it will strike loop and draw the handstogether upon the handle of the bat. To permit the bat-carrying lever 27to yield or fold when the player stoops forward, as shown in Fig. 2,said lever is jointed at 33 and 34, as shown in Figs. 2 and 4, and tokeep the jointed parts in position a suitable spring 35 is employed.

To bend the upper part of the upright forward, as shown in Fig.2, toillustrate the action of catching a ground ball the upright at a pointabove the hinge 2 is provided with a circular wire frame 36, which isconnected at its front edge to an operating-wire 37 and at its rear edgeto a coil-spring 38, which latter extends to a point below thehinge-joint where it is connected to the upright to assist in restoringthe upper part of the upright to its vertical position. The upper end ofthe coil-spring is also connected to a stationary arm 39, projectingrearwardly from the lower end of the upper part of the upright. Theoperating-rod 37 extends down through the hollow upright and the weightand is provided with an operating-handle 40 at its lower end.

In order that the hands and the ball may be operated at the same timethat the player stoops forward, the rear end 28 of the ballcarryinglever is connected by an additional operating-wire 41 to theoperating-rod 37 In order that the ball-carrying lever may be operatedthrough the medium of either of its operating-wires 23 41 withoutbuckling or bending the other, those two wires are formed withinterlocking loops 42 near their upper ends, the loops beingsufficiently elongated to permit either wire to be operated withoutoperating or bending the other, as shown more particularly in Fig. 2.The frame 36 also serves to assist in carrying the uniform of the playerand preventing it interfering with the working parts. Another frame 43,semicircular in shape, is secured to the upright below the hinge-joint,and depending from this frame at one side of the standard is a wire loop44, whose upper end is connected to said frame 43 and whose other end isconnected to the cross-pin 24, carried by the upright, this loop beingso located as to surround the ball while it is in its lowered position.

As shown in Fig. 6, the loop 44 supports the uniform of the playeradjacent to the ball, the uniform being slitted at 45 to permit the ballto pass into the loop and be hidden by the closing of the slit after theball has entered.

In order that the cross-pin 24, carried by the ball-operatin g wire 23may be disengaged from its locking-pins 25 automatically by theoperation of the leg-operating mechanism, a triplever 46 is pivoted tothe upper side of the weight and has its upper ends guided by eyes 47 onthe upright, this trip-lever being bent so as to push the cross-pin 24off the lockingpin when it is raised by the oscillation of the weight,and to release the bat-operating wire in a similar manner from its pins32 the legoperating'wire 11 is bent at 48, this bent portion serving torelease pin 31 when the operating-wire 11 is thrown upward by theoscillation of the weight.

It will be seen that by means of the mechanism described the variousmovements of the players may be illustrated with sufficient clearness torender unnecessary an oral explanation of the various plays to theaudience.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim is 1. I11 abaseball-illustrating apparatus, the combination of a slottedsupporting-board, a movable upright working in said slots and extendingtherethrough and provided with a friction-block bearing on the board anda weight at its lower end to maintain it in an upright position, afigure of a player on the upright above the board, pivoted an gle-leverscarrying the arms of the player and adapted to swing laterally towardeach other, a pivoted angle-lever provided with a loop engaging theinner ends of the arm-levers and adapted to press the same inward andout ward, and an operating-Wire extending down through the upright to apoint below the board, substantially as described.

2. The combination of an upright carrying the figure of a base-ballplayer at its upper end, the legs of the player being pivotally hung, anoscillating lever 10 pivoted to the upright above the legs, a resilientconnection between each end of the lever and the adjacent upper end ofthe leg, and an operatingwire connected to the lever 10 and dependingtherefrom, substantially as described.

3. In a base-ball apparatus, the combination of an upright carrying thefigure of a player at its upper end and a pivoted weight at its lowerend, a supporting-board, an oscillating lever 10 having its oppositeends connected to the swinging legs of the player, and an operating-wireconnecting said oscillating lever to the oscillating weight,substantially as described.

.4. In a base-ball device, the combination of an upright carrying thefigure of a player, the arms of the player being adapted to swing together in front, a pivoted lever carrying a ball, means for raising saidlever to bring the ball between the hands and simultaneously swing thehands toward each other, substan tially as described.

5. In. a base-ball apparatus, the combination of an upright carrying thefigure of a player, angle-levers carrying the hands of the player andadapted to swing laterally, an angle-lever carrying the ball and adaptedto raise the same between the hands, means for operating thehand-carrying and ball-carrying levers, the bent part of theball-carrying lever being adapted to bring the hands together when theball is raised, substantially as described.

6. In a base-ball apparatus, the combination of an upright carrying thefigure of a player, the arms of the player being adapted to swinglaterally, a bat-carrying lever pivoted to the upright, and means forraising the bat between the hands of the player simultaneously bringingthe hands toward the handle of the bat, and means for restoring theparts to their normal position, substantially as described.

'7. In a base-ball apparatus, the combination of a field-board, anupright depending therethrough, the figure of a player being carried onthe upper end of the upright, a bat-carry ing lever pivoted on theupright, and an operating-wire connected to said lever and extendingbelow the board whereby the operator below the board may raise the batto an approximately horizontal position in front of the player,substantially as described.

8. In a base-ball apparatus, the combination of an upright carrying afigure of a player at its upper end, the upright being hinged andadapted to bend forward about midway the length of the figure, anoperating-wire adapted to bend said upper part forward, a ballcarryinglever and means for simultaneously raising the ball to a positionbetween the hands of the figure when bent forward, substantially asdescribed.

9. In a baseball apparatus,the combination of a field-board, an uprightdepending therethrough and carrying the figure of a player on its upperend, the legs of said player being adapted to swing forward and backwardand its arms adapted to swing laterally, a ballcarrying lever adapted toswing the ball up between the hands, a bat carrying lever adapted toswing the bat up between the hands of the figure and operating-wires forsaid levers extending below the operatingboard, substantially asdescribed.

10. In a base-ball apparatus, the combination of a supporting-board, anupright depending therethrough, the figure of a player on the upper endof the upright, the arms of the player being adapted to swing laterallyand its legs forward and backward, a ballcarrying lever, means forraising the ball between the hands of the figure and simultaneouslybringing the hands toward the ball, an operating-wire connected to saidmeans and extending below the board, a device for holding saidoperating-wire down, an oscillating part carried by the upright andadapted to operate the legs of the figure, and a tripping deviceconnected to said oscillating part and adapted to release the saidoperating-wire, as and for the purposes set forth.

11. In a base-ball apparatus, the combination of a field-board, anupright depending therethrou gh and having the figure of a player uponits upper end, said figure being adapted to bend forward, a bat-carryinglever pivoted to the upright and depending in front of the same, saidbat-carrying lever being jointed so as to fold when the figure stoopsforward, and means for raising the bat-carryin g lever, substantially asdescribed.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

ALEXANDER K. SOHAAP. lVitnesses:

C. D. DAVIS, S. R. GRowDER.

